Every single Homo sapien in my household is presently under the grip of a particularly nasty virus. For the past two days, my own head has felt as though it was filled with epoxy resin. Thus is has been just a wee bit difficult to get much serious writing done.
However as I was slouching in my favorite chair in the library, half-consciously contemplating the empty space between the window and the tree beyond it, I noticed two pale grey birds fly into view and land directly on the grass just below the sill and therefore out of view. When I heaved myself upward into a more or less vertical position, I noticed that they were Mourning Doves, Zenaida macroura, a species common to the local area but only seen on our property during this past year.
I watched the pair forage amongst the shrubbery for some time before thinking that I’d like to get a picture of them. Knowing that I didn’t have time to unpack the longest lense I have and that should I even try to open the front door to get closer to them that they would immediately fly, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try for a digibin photo.
I grabbed my Swarovski EL 8x32mm bins and my Snapshot Adapter, activated my trusty Canon PowerShot SD600, fitted all three together, leaned the camera-side objective lens of the bins against the window pane, and hoped for the best. I have to say, I’m actually quite impressed with the result. While it does have a little glare-induced opacity from shooting at an angle through a double pane window, the overall image is really quite respectable – a testament, to be sure, more to the bins and the camera than my own photographic skills.
Peace and good bird watching.
